At age 16, Alex Sydor embarked on his competitive powerlifting career at the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) United Barbell Classic on January 12th, 2019 where he placed third in the -83kg weight class after hitting a 490kg/1,080lb total. Since then, the now 17-year-old Sydor has competed in three more sanctioned meets and took home the gold in all three of them. The most substantial win coming last October at the USAPL 2019 Raw National Championships. Here are Sydor’s first place stats from that event:
- Squat — 220kg/485lb
- Bench Press — 137.5kg/303lb
- Deadlift — 247.5kg/546lb
- Total — 605kg/1,334lb
Sydor’s competition best deadlift came at his most recent meet — a 255kg/562lb pull at the USAPL Northeast Iron Beast Pro Winter Classic VII on January 18th, 2020. The gains made by Sydor in the gym (or in this case his garage) have been noticeable, particularly the 272kg/600lb paused deadlift he pulled in a recent training session. Check it out below courtesy of his Instagram page:
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Judging from the video, Sydor’s secret weapon might be the hyped energy his teammates pump him up with prior to the lift. Even though he was 188lb at the time of this lift — 2.2kg/5lb over the threshold of the -83kg weight class — this was a paused deadlift and a full 17kg/38lb more than his competition PR.
This week has been a rather monumental one for Sydor who set another new PR just three days prior with a 545lb deadlift double. He shared a video of that PR on his Instagram page as well. See if for yourself below, the energy is just as high:
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“Deadlift 545×2@7.5 PR”
Sydor notes his RPE at 7.5 for this PR, which means that he might have been able to pull heavier. And now that he has hit 272/600lb, another PR is likely on the horizon.
Featured image from Alex Sydor’s Instagram page: @alexsydor
